I, Robot – Short Stories STAGE 5 Before Reading 5 Powell to Donovan, about the electron storm which might cross the energy beam the Converter was BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES (PAGE 90) sending to Earth. 6 Donovan to Powell, about building another robot in ACTIVITY 1 BEFORE READING front of Cutie’s eyes, so that Cutie would be forced 1 Yes 2 No 3 Yes 4 No 5 No 6 Yes 7 Yes 8 Yes to believe that Powell and Donovan made him. 9 No 7 Powell to Donovan, about Cutie and the fact that Cutie’s beliefs did not prevent him from doing his ACTIVITY 2 BEFORE READING job perfectly. Encourage students to speculate and to make 8 Miller to Powell, about the new robot, Cutie, which guesses, but do not tell them the answers. They as yet he knew nothing about. will find out as they read that the ‘yes’ answers are numbers 1, 4 and 5. (The answer to number 3 is CATCH THAT RABBIT WHILE READING ‘no’ with one exception.) 1 He meant that they had to discover what the problem ACTIVITIES ANSWERS was before they could look for an answer to it. While Reading 2 Because the subsidiary robots were controlled almost wholly by Dave. 3 Personal initiative. THE THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS, DR SUSAN CALVIN WHILE READING 4 Because they wanted to create their own emergency, 1 A robot should first protect human beings; second, so that they could watch what happened to Dave. obey orders; and third, protect itself. 5 In an emergency orders had to be given to all six 2 She saw robots as friends to help humankind. She subsidiaries at the same time. thought they were cleaner, better creatures than 6 Dave could not communicate with six subsidiaries human beings, and also stronger, more useful, and at the same time because his circuits got overloaded, more capable. but his positronic brain was able to work properly if he had to give orders to only five subsidiaries. RUNAROUND WHILE READING 1 The Second Law: a robot must obey the orders given LIAR! WHILE READING by human beings. 1+8+15 2 The Third Law: a robot must protect itself (in this Herbie knew that Dr Calvin loved Milton Ashe, but he case, from the dangerous gas above the selenium couldn’t tell her that Ashe didn’t love her because that pool). information would have hurt her. 3 The Second Law: a robot must obey the orders given 2+11+17 by human beings. (So when Speedy removed himself Bogert wanted to be the next Managing Director, from the immediate danger of the pool, the Second so Herbie told him that Dr Lanning had resigned Law came into effect again and sent him back to the although he knew that wasn’t true. pool.) 3+7+13 4 The First Law: a robot must not allow a human Herbie also knew what the mistake in the factory had being to come to harm. (When Speedy realized that been but he knew that Lanning and Bogert wanted to Powell was in danger of dying, the First Law then discover the mistake for themselves, so he told them took over from the others.) that he didn’t know the answer. 5 He made sure that the First Law was in effect, by 4+12 explaining to Speedy that the selenium was urgently Dr Calvin realized that Herbie had been telling lies needed in order to keep him and Powell alive. when Ashe told her about the girl he planned to marry. 5+10+16 REASON WHILE READING She realized that Herbie couldn’t tell people the truth 1 Cutie to Powell, about the reason for his existence as if he knew that the truth would hurt them, so he had he thought it was improbable that he had been made to give people the answers they wanted to hear. by Powell and Donovan. 6+9+14 2 Cutie to Powell, about space and the stars. Telling the truth would be a psychological injury and 3 Cutie to Powell, about human beings. so Herbie would be breaking the First Law, which a 4 Cutie to Powell and Donovan, about the Energy robot can never do. Converter, which Cutie believed had created him. © Oxford University Press OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 25 3939 I, ROBOT – SHORT STORIESXXX BW Stage5(Handbook)MB_v2.indd 39 01/02/08 15:20:06 LITTLE LOST ROBOT WHILE READING rode them through the tunnels of the mining station 1 The brains of a few (some) NS-2s contained only to an exit which was five kilometres from the selenium part of the First Law. pool. We went outside the station and stood in the 2 The normal NS-2s didn’t allow humans to go near shadow (shade) of a tall cliff, where the temperature the radiation / The secret NS-2s allowed . was eighty centigrade. We saw Speedy running 3 In the test the robots didn’t move forwards to save (coming) towards us, but when we called him, he the man because they knew that the electric cable turned and ran away, singing. would kill them first. There was obviously something confusing his brain 4 The NS-2s which had just arrived knew nothing patterns (circuits). We thought that he was probably about radiation. avoiding some danger at the pool. The Second Law 5 Bogert advised the robots to sit where they were if sent him towards the pool, and then the Third Law they noticed any radiation between them and the drove him away again. human being. I decided to go out into the sun to see if Speedy 6 The test involved harmless radiation from light and would save me. I rode on the old robot towards the heat. pool, and then continued (went) on foot. Ten minutes 7 Nestor 10 was caught in the end because he forgot passed. I called Speedy on my radio. He stopped, but that the other robots knew less than he did about did not turn. I was now breathing with difficulty. I radiation. ACTIVITIES ANSWERS called him again. Suddenly (Then), I felt metal fingers on my arm. Speedy picked me up and carried me into EVIDENCE WHILE READING 1 Why . .? Because no one in the city had ever seen the shadow of the cliff. This (Next) time, Donovan him eat, drink, or sleep. explained that the selenium was essential and sent him 2 What . .? They were either destroyed, or used for to another pool. He was back within forty-two minutes. new robots. ACTIVITY 2 AFTER READING 3 What . .? Nothing, because if Byerley were a Possible responses for Powell might be: humanoid robot, whoever made him would have MILLER: How’s this new robot? I hope it’s good! made sure that he could eat and sleep if necessary. POWELL: It is rather good. You won’t need to spend 4 What . .? It would prove that he wasn’t a robot. much time at the controls. 5 What . .? Nothing, because he might be a robot, or MILLER: Why not? he might simply be a very good man. POWELL: Well, the robot won’t let us into the control 6 Why . .? Because Byerley was wearing special room because he believes that the Converter made clothes that prevented X-ray photographs. him. 7 How . .? By hitting a man, which he couldn’t have MILLER: Have you told him that you made him? done if he had been a robot because of the First Law. POWELL: Of course we have, but he refuses to believe us. 8 Why . .? Because he would be unable to harm Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Last week an electron storm human beings, so would govern better than any hit us and the robot directed the beam exactly at the human being; and a robot could never be cruel, receiving station on Earth all through the storm. stupid or unjust because of the Laws of Robotics. MILLER: So what am I going to do with the robot while 9 Why . .? Because when he died, he arranged for his I’m on the station? body to be destroyed. POWELL: Nothing. He can control the station perfectly, 10 Why . .? Because she thought that the real Stephen so just let him get on with it. Byerley, ‘John’, had made another humanoid robot, which was the ‘man’ that Byerley hit to prove to the ACTIVITY 3 AFTER READING crowd that he wasn’t a robot. The right order is: 3, 6, 1, 4, 5, 2 A possible summary could be: (3) The new robot on the asteroid and its six After Reading subsidiaries worked well as a team only as long as Donovan watched it. When Donovan didn’t watch, ACTIVITY 1 AFTER READING the robots didn’t work. (6) Powell and Donovan did a Possible answers: test on Dave and interviewed one of the subsidiaries, The photocell banks which protected us from the heat from whom they learnt that the robots were ordered to of Mercury’s sun were damaged. We needed selenium march or dance when there was an emergency. to repair them, so we sent Speedy to a selenium pool (1) Powell and Donovan decided to create their own to bring us some selenium. Hours later (passed), emergency so that they could watch the robots. Speedy still hadn’t returned, so we decided (had) to go However, part of the roof of their own tunnel fell in, after Speedy on the robots from the First Expedition. and they were trapped. The robots began dancing.